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Which 2018 Honda Civic Is Right for You?

Honda is known for reliability, and there are few cars more durable than a Civic. The 2018 Honda Civic remains unchanged from the previous year. It has five different trims, and each offers a different balance of comfort, performance, and affordability. Our guide breaks down each trim to help you make a choice you feel good about.

LX

The Honda Civic LX starts at $18,840 and is one of the cheapest sedans on the market.  That’s great news, for a vehicle that’s consistently rated as one of the more reliable vehicles on the market. The LX may not be for everyone. It comes standard with a six-speed manual transmission, and changing it to an automatic will run you $800. The engine is an in-line four-cylinder that’s capable of 158 horsepower and 138 pound-foot of torque.

If a manual is alright, it has some nice features like automatic climate control, a multi-angle rearview camera, and a 12-volt power outlet. Since it’s a smaller sedan, it even gets great gas mileage of up to 28 mpg in the city and 40 mpg on the highway with the manual transmission. Opting for the CVT automatic bumps up the city rating to 31 mpg. Highway economy is the same.

EX

It is possible to upgrade the LX to have an automatic transmission. But if you’d rather have an automatic anyway, you might as well pay $21,240 to get extra features along with it. The EX is equipped with a CVT, which increases the fuel economy to an estimated 31 mpg in the city and 40 mpg on the highway.

The smaller additions to the EX make it a much better choice when compared to the LX. The exterior adds heated outside mirrors and a one-touch power moonroof with tilt. The inside includes push-button start, illuminated vanity mirrors, Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, eight speakers (4 more than the LX), and a seven-inch touch-screen.

The safety features improve considerably on the EX, particularly with the addition of Honda LaneWatch. This feature gives you a video stream of your blind spot when changing lanes, so you know if it’s safe to merge or not.

EX-T

The Honda Civic EX-T starts at $21,600 and has a power increase for those that need a little more oomph. It has a 1.5-liter turbocharged engine that’s capable of 174 hp and 167 lb-ft of torque. This trim also has an available LL-CVT transmission, which increases the fuel economy up to 32 mpg in the city and 42 mpg on the highway compared to the standard M-CVT.

The main appeal for the EX-T is the engine upgrade, but it does have a few other additions to the outside and cabin. This trim includes fog lights, dynamic guidelines for the rearview camera, dual-zone climate control, and heated front seats.

EX-L

The EX-L starts at $23,900 and has a few more features to make the sedan feel more luxurious without going crazy cost-wise. Drivers will notice leather trim on the seating, steering wheel, and shift knob. The EX-L has a rearview mirror that automatically dims whenever there are bright headlights behind you.

Touring

Lastly, the Hond Civic Touring is the ultimate compact and starts at $26,700. It has all the features any driver could want for safety, comfort, and sensibility. The exterior of the Touring adds LED headlights with auto on-off functionality, side mirror turn indicators, and rain-sensing windshield wipers. The interior gets a significant upgrade to a 450-watt premium audio system with 10 speakers and a subwoofer. This trim expands the heated seating to the rear, as well.

Safety is a big part of the Touring trim, also. For active safety, Honda adds collision mitigation braking and road departure mitigation systems. To further assist drivers, the Touring has lane keeping assist and adaptive cruise control with low-speed follow.

(Featured image via Facebook.)

Last Updated: March 07, 2018